The cycle ‘Little Tragedies’ was written in 1830 in Boldin, it is dedicated to human passions - subjugating all thoughts and feelings. Every main character is obsessed with such a passion - be it the acquisition of treasures, love, creativity or the thirst for immortality. And each of them is a voluntary slave of his passion, for whom it is not enough to subordinate his personal existence to it - he wants to subordinate the whole world to it.